


Ours Now

by blackmustache



Category: BBC Radio 1 RPF, One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-28
Updated: 2015-06-28
Packaged: 2018-04-06 16:29:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4228863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blackmustache/pseuds/blackmustache
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nick has a kid and Liam is the student he hires as his new babysitter. He didn't sound quite as gorgeous on the phone as he is in real life. This can only spell trouble for him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Ours Now

**Author's Note:**

  * For [wildestoftales](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wildestoftales/gifts).



Nick pulls the note with the kid’s details down off the fridge. _Liam. 21. 6pm Tuesday._ It’s the only response he’s had to his advert for a babysitter, which he knows is down to sticking his flyer up in the student union before the start of term but he can’t really afford to wait. He’s got to start back at work next week.

The doorbell rings just as the clock on the oven flicks over to 18:00. Liam’s obviously punctual; Nick likes him already. Nick flicks the kettle on and heads to the front door, tripping over the dog on his way.

"Pig." He warns. "Why are you always everywhere? Come on, let’s go meet Liam." He lifts her up and carries her to the door with him even though she’s both heavy and a wriggler. He opens the door and smiles at the kid on his doorstep – the kid who looks a lot more well-built and, er, manly, than he had sounded on the phone. Maybe it’s not the right person. Maybe this is someone selling something and Liam’s still on his way. "Hi?"

"Nick, is it? I mean – Mr Grimshaw? I’m Liam. I’m here about the babysitting job?"

Nick smiles, relieved. He hates doorstep sellers, because he always ends up inviting them in and agreeing to buy their fish knives or dishcloths that fall apart the first time you put them in water. One time he even agreed to sign up for a gardening service and he only had four window boxes and a concrete patio at the time. "Liam! Great, come in." He smiles over the top of the dog. "This is Pig. She’ll need feeding and taking out for walks twice a day, the usual stuff, but also she’s my baby so she’ll need you to bath her in the tub and brush her fur with her special bristle brush."

Liam blinks and doesn’t really make a move to step inside. "I – um. I mean." He looks back and forth between Nick and the dog and Nick bites his lip to keep from laughing. "I mean I actually thought this was babysitting a child? But I do sort of need the money, so."

Pig finally manages to wriggle her way out of his arms, leaping down to the ground and running away. Nick can't keep his laugh in any longer. "Sorry, Liam."

Liam frowns. "Did I – did I not get the job?"

Nick can hear giggles behind him and he turns around, scooping up the little girl who has just poked her head out into the hall. "Liam, this is Hayley. She’s four and I promise you this was all her idea." He grins. "If you still want to hang out with a little devil child for a couple of hours every day, I’d like to interview you properly."

"Hey." Hayley grins and pokes him in the arm. "Be nice about me, Daddy."

Nick laughs and kisses her cheek. "Sorry love." He looks at Liam. "Can I get you a tea or a coffee?"

Liam swallows and nods. "Coffee, please."

Nick laughs and opens the door to the lounge and points Liam inside. "Don’t look so scared; I promise we’re not crazy. Make yourself comfortable in there, I’ll be through in a minute with your drink."

Liam disappears into the lounge and Nick sets Hayley down on the floor in the kitchen and crouches to her level. "What do you think so far? Seems nice?"

She nods. "Yes, I like him, let’s keep him."

Nick laughs. "We’ll see." He makes two coffees and a juice and follows Hayley back into the living room. Liam is standing by the bookshelf in one corner, looking incredulously at Nick’s vinyl collection. "You into music, Liam? I got most of those from my brother, but I've got plenty of other stuff too." He points into the other alcove, an even bigger shelving unit stuffed tight with CDs Nick’s been accumulating since his teens.

Liam nods and steps back from the shelves and takes a seat. "Sorry, that was nosy of me. But yeah, my course is Creative Music Production. I always like to see what kind of music people are into."

Nick smiles and sits down on the other sofa, impressed. Hayley climbs up beside him and pushes a pair of glasses up her nose. Nick recognises them as one of his old pairs that he popped the lenses out of and put in her dressing up box – far too big for her head, but she loves them more than the proper kids’ pair he bought her later.

"Let’s get started, then." He reaches down into the magazine rack and comes up with a clipboard which he hands to Hayley, looking very serious. "Miss Grimshaw, would you like to ask Liam the first question?"

She nods and holds the clipboard up in front of her face, gripping it with both hands, and then sets it back down on her lap and folds her hands neatly in front of her. "Liam, can you tell me why you’re interested in this job?"

Nick snorts and tries to cover in it a cough, taking a sip of his coffee. He taught her the question this afternoon after she’d demanded to be involved in interviewing Liam and she’s ridiculously cute. Even if he does say so himself.

Liam smiles and Nick thinks it’s the first time since he opened the door that Liam hasn’t looked worried or confused. It’s a nice smile, and Nick wants to make sure he keeps doing it.

"Well Miss Grimshaw. I’ve been working in a bar over the summer, but now that lectures are about to start up again I really need something with better hours or I’ll be _very_ tired every day."

"I see." She scribbles something on her piece of paper and Nick looks over her shoulder – it’s a big tick. He smiles to himself.

The rest of the interview goes well. Liam’s very animated when he’s talking about his course, which bodes well, and when Nick asks him about his hobbies he says music and the gym and not partying and drugs, which bodes even better. He generally ticks all of Nick’s boxes. "Do you have any questions for us, Liam?"

"Just the hours, really. Would it be every day?"

Nick nods. "Right, of course. So basically I’ve been doing some freelance radio stuff for the last few years, but now that Hayles has started school I’ve been given something more permanent in the office. I can take her to school in the mornings, but I need someone who can pick her up and sort out her tea. She finishes at 3, and I’ll be home around 6. Would you be able to manage that? It wouldn’t clash with your lectures?"

Liam shakes his head. "No, I’ve just had my timetable through and I’m not even in every day but I’m finished by 2 when I am. It’s my last year so it's mostly coursework and practical stuff, which I can fit in around you."

"Perfect." Nick smiles and Hayley tugs on his sleeve. He ducks his head so that she can whisper in his ear and he laughs. "Okay, okay. Liam, we have one final question for you. We want to know a couple of interesting facts about you, in the form of Hayley’s favourite game - two truths and a lie. Hayley, would you like to demonstrate the game to Liam?"

Hayley nods and sits forward on the sofa, looking very serious. "Number one, my name is Hayley." She holds out her hand and counts on her fingers. "Number two, I’m four years old." She grins. "Number three, I have a pet unicorn in the garage. Liam, one of these is a _lie_. Which one do you think is a lie?"

Liam beams at her and scratches his head. "Well, I definitely know you’re four years old, so it’s not that one." He taps his chin with his index finger and stares at her intensely. "I’m going to say you definitely have a unicorn in the garage because I’m sure I saw some pixie dust outside. I think your name isn’t really Hayley, it’s _Princess_ Hayley." He grins wider. "Am I right?"

"No!" She claps her hands and laughs. "I don’t have a unicorn! I just have a horse with a toilet roll stuck on his head."

Nick chokes on his coffee. "Hayley."

She sighs. "Okay I don’t have a horse either. I just put a horn on Pig sometimes." She grins. "Your turn!"

"Okay." Liam sits forward and looks like he’s thinking very hard about what to say. "Number one, I auditioned for the X Factor when I was 14 and I made it to judges’ houses. Number two, I broke my arm playing laser tag for my sixteenth birthday. And number three, I’m afraid of spoons."

Hayley shrieks with laughter. "SPOONS? That one is definitely a lie!" She looks up at Nick. "What do you think, Daddy?"

Nick thinks about it. "Well." He cocks his head and stares at Liam. "I don’t recognise you, so I don’t think you were on X Factor. I’m going to go with that."

Liam grins. "Both wrong. I invited my whole year to my sixteenth birthday but nobody came. The other two are true."

Nick’s jaw drops. " _Nobody_ came?! That’s awful."

Hayley frowns and pouts a little. "I’ll be your friend, Liam."

Liam smiles. "Thanks, Hayley. Does that mean I get the job?"

Nick straightens up, delighted. "Liam Payne, did you just play the sympathy card on my four year old daughter in order to get a job?"

"Did it work?"

"YES!" Hayley jumps down off the sofa and runs over to Liam to give him a hug.

Nick smiles as Liam lifts her up into his lap and hugs her back. "Hayley’s decision is final, I think. Are you free tomorrow? I have a meeting after she gets in from school – it’s here, but it would be nice if I knew someone else was occupying her. We could call it a trial? I'll still pay you."

"Sounds good." Liam straightens Hayley’s glasses for her.

"Great. I’ll pick her up and see you here at four." Nick stands up and Liam lets Hayley climb down before he stands up too and shakes hands with Nick.

"See you then!"

\--

Nick’s stretched out in front of the TV with a glass of wine after Hayley’s fast asleep in bed, and his mind drifts back to Liam’s interesting facts. Nick’s useless X Factor knowledge is generally pretty solid and he doesn’t remember Liam at _all_. Even if he can’t remember a name he can usually recognise a face. He sets his wine down on the coffee table and pulls his laptop out from under the couch.

Five minutes later the Series 5 Wikipedia page confirms Liam’s story and Nick dives into YouTube. He’s gobsmacked when he pulls up a video and sees what a baby Liam had looked. That’s more like the face Nick had expected to see on his doorstep tonight, not the burning hunk of manly man that had showed up instead. The last seven years have been very good to Liam, that’s for sure.

"Do not get a crush on the babysitter, Nicholas," Nick mutters. He pulls up the next video anyway. Maybe watching all of these old clips will neutralise the emergence of any feelings.

By the end, Nick just hates Simon Cowell for sending Liam home. How could he say no to that face? Now he just wants to call Liam up and bombard him with questions, like why didn’t you try again like he told you to and do you still sing? What are your future career plans? Can you pin me down with those big strong arms and make me fall apart?

Except not the last one. Definitely _not_ the last one.

Fuck.

\--

Nick convinces himself his pervy thoughts are just down to a combination of tiredness, wine and a way too long dry spell. That’s got to be the explanation. He picks Hayley up from school and Liam arrives for his trial run and Nick leaves them to it. "Pretend I’m not here," he tells Liam. "Except obviously I am."

"Obviously." Liam laughs and picks Hayley up for a cuddle. She grins and Nick feels like he’s picked a good person to trust with his daughter. He excuses himself and gets set up for his meeting, finalising some plans with the bosses over Skype before he heads back into the offices at the studio for his first day in his new job on Monday. 

It’s nice being able to concentrate, not constantly listening out for Hayley shouting for him or even having to have her playing quietly in the corner while he gets things done. The meeting lasts almost two hours but they get through so much that he realises how invaluable having Liam around is going to be. 

After he disconnects the call, he shuts his computer and tiptoes out into the hall. He can hear Hayley chattering away and he twists the door knob as slowly and quietly as he can, opening the door the tiniest crack.

Peering through it, he can see Hayley and Liam sitting at the dining table, accompanied by what looks like every teddy she owns. Her tea set is out, a teacup and saucer for each bear, and Liam is – Liam seems to be wearing a tiara. 

He opens the door fully just as Hayley is pouring some more tea into Liam’s cup. "Okay then sunshine, what are we up to?"

She grins. "Daddy! We’re having a tea party."

"I see that. What are we celebrating?"

"Well." She twists in her chair to face him fully and goes up on her knees. "Liam is the Queen and he’s getting married, but some of the royal advisors aren’t very happy so he’s having a kingdom tea party to talk them around."

"I see. Is it working?"

"Dunno. They're bears." She grins and Nick laughs.

"I see." He hears Pig’s footsteps coming from the kitchen and she runs into the room. She’s wearing a sparkly horn on her head tied with a sparkly ribbon and all Nick can think is how the hell did Liam get her to stay still long enough to get that on her?! "What is THAT."

Liam grins. "That would be the Royal Unicorn."

"Of course." Of _course_ Liam remembered what she said about unicorns. She bloody loves the things, so she’s probably wildly in love with Liam now. "Since you’ve joined your royal advisors for their tea, Queen Liam, would you like to join us for ours? We’re having fish fingers and potato smiley faces."

"Oh I don’t know, I should-"

"Stay, Liam stay!" She grins. "Stay."

Nick laughs. "I think the princess has spoken. And besides, if you stay we can go through the important things like emergency numbers and what to do if Her Royal Highness’s head falls off."

"My head’s not gonna come off!" Hayley exclaims and Liam catches the indignant look on her face and laughs. 

"Yeah, okay then. Sounds good. I like fish fingers."

Nick grins as he wanders off into the kitchen. "Who _doesn’t_? Heathens, that’s who."

"Daddy, what’s a heathen?"

Nick snorts. "Hush, Hayles. Go back to your party while I get tea on."

Hayley declares the tea party over anyway, because Pig’s finally managed to shake her horn loose and it’s apparently not a real tea party without the Royal Unicorn in attendance. "She’s just a dog now," Hayley shakes her head sadly and Nick laughs to himself in the kitchen.

Liam picks her up and she wraps her arms around his neck as he walks into the kitchen, grinning instantly. "Daddy, I think Liam is stronger than you. He doesn’t make any of those grunting noises when he tries to pick me up."

Nick puts his hands on his hips. "I’ll have you know it’s a _joke_ when I do that, missy." He grins. "Rude."

The emergency numbers are stuck to the fridge with a magnet that’s a photo of Nick and Hayley at Legoland last summer, and Nick runs through them while the fish fingers are cooking. He makes sure Liam’s got every possible way to contact him stored in his phone; Nick’s mobile, Nick’s mum’s house, the studio number, his sister’s mobile, and three different numbers for Hayley’s school. 

He shows Liam the first aid kit and where he keeps the Calpol, and goes over what she can and can’t eat when she gets in from school. To be fair, there’s no hard and fast rule because she’s still only in her second week and she’s a growing girl, right? He dishes up the fish fingers and smiley potato faces and laughs as Liam covers practically the whole plate in ketchup, which obviously Hayley immediately copies. 

"One afternoon and you’re teaching my daughter bad habits, Liam?"

Liam looks up and bites his lip a little, ashamed. Which Nick absolutely does not find equal parts hot and adorable, no. "Sorry? I didn’t think-"

Nick laughs and shakes his head. "She’s a ketchup fiend. Always has been. Don’t worry."

"Oh." He grins a bit. "Okay. Sorry."

They spend the rest of dinner chatting, which is nice. Liam fills them in on his home, his sisters, his X Factor experience and Nick sticks to his resolution about not telling Liam he’d watched all of those videos. But he does feel like there’s something else Liam wants to say, and it’s not until Hayley runs off to the bathroom ("shout me if you need me!" Nick calls after her. "And wash your hands after!") that he gets around to it.

"So like – how long has it just been the two of you?" 

Nick smiles. "I know what you really mean is how did someone as charming and gorgeous as me end up a single parent before I turned thirty, right?" He grins and shakes his hand to stop Liam apologising again. "Depends how you measure it. We broke up just after she turned one, but we were both determined to stay involved. We stayed friends for her. But then six months or so later he got a job offer in LA that was too good to pass up, and neither of us wanted a nasty custody battle so we did the hardest thing I’ve ever done. We agreed to find out which one of us was her biological dad, and that’s where she’d stay. I agreed to it, but I’d have been heartbroken if it had turned out she wasn’t mine. I probably would have considered moving to LA just to be near her anyway."

"I – that’s intense." 

Nick shrugs a little. "It worked out for the best though, I think. He travels a lot so he’s still here every six months or so and he always makes time to see us. She knows he’s her other dad. I want to take her over there this summer for a few weeks. She’ll be five by the time the school holidays start, I think she’ll be able to handle the flight by then." 

"She’ll like that." Liam grins. "I mean obviously. You don’t need me to tell you that."

Nick laughs. "No, but thanks for the confirmation."

"Daaaaaaaaaddy." Hayley’s voice floats down the stairs and Nick stands up just as she shouts again. "Daaaaaaaaddy I need you."

"I’m coming, I’m coming, little miss impatient." He tiptoes into the bathroom and helps her wash her hands, lifting her up so that she can see into the mirror above the sink. "What do you think then, sunshine? Are we keeping Liam?"

"Yep." She nods decisively. "He’s mine now."

\--

Nick’s sitting outside on his lunch break picking at the pesto, spinach and pine nut salad he picked up from Waitrose this morning. It was meant to be an attempt to stop eating all of the cakes and junk that have been seemingly endless at the office this week but he knows in reality he’ll probably still cave when someone offers him a Dairy Milk cake bar this afternoon. He nearly drops the salad when his phone rings, already assuming it’s the school and something has made Hayley sick or she’s fallen off the climbing frame and broken her ankle – but it’s just Aimee.

"How’s the first week going then?" 

"Hello to you too." 

"Yeah yeah, hello. How’s work? What’s it like being back in the world of full time employment after all these years?"

"Weird." Nick nods. "But good. Apart from I think I’ve put on about a stone since Monday."

"Impossible, you’re a beanpole," she laughs. "And the babysitter?"

"Mhm, yeah." Nick chucks his salad in the bin. He’ll get a jacket potato on the way back to the studio. "Hayley likes him."

"But?"

"What? No but, she likes him."

"But you don’t?"

"No, I do." Nick shrugs. "He’s perfectly – uhm. Perfect."

"Nicholas Grimshaw," Aimee laughs. "What’s the matter with you?"

"I mean it’s just he doesn’t look like he sounded on the phone. He’s not what I thought I was getting, like false advertising or something. I thought he’d be like. I dunno. Bookish."

"And what is he?"

Nick makes an uncomfortable noise and then he breaks. "He’s got these _arms_ , Aims. And he boxes, and he’s got a really nice smile."

Aimee cackles. "You’ve got a _crush_ on the babysitter?"

"It’s not a crush! You’re making me sound twelve!" Nick whines. "It’s more like – I don’t know. It doesn’t matter, god. I can’t fancy the babysitter, he’s only twenty one!"

"Well apparently you’re twelve, so I do see how that would be a problem."

"Aimee! Help me!"

"Well you could just fuck him."

"That’s not helping, that’s the opposite of helping."

"How is it? I’m serious. Just take him to bed and get it out of your system. He’s already in your house half the night so I don’t see where the problem is."

"He’s practically closer to Hayley’s age than mine. I can’t. It would be wrong."

"Even you aren’t bad enough at math that you think twenty one is closer to four than thirty, you idiot. You need to get laid, it’s been too long."

"I came in from work on Monday and he’d spent all bloody afternoon with her making me a ‘welcome home daddy’ banner. She thinks he’s great, I can’t risk him quitting because I made a move on him!"

"Maybe she wants a new second daddy." 

He knows Aimee’s just kidding, but that’s not fair. "She’s already got two. That position’s not available." He snaps a little and he can tell she knows she’s gone too far by the way she’s quiet on the other end. He sighs. "Sorry." 

"It’s fine. You’re right, it’s probably best you don’t fuck the babysitter. It’s a bit porno cliché."

Nick laughs. "Exactly."

"Just go home and knock one out in the shower after she’s gone to bed then. Same as you always do."

Nick rolls his eyes and looks at his watch. "I’ve got to go. I’ve got to be back in work in fifteen minutes and I need to get a second lunch. My salad was seriously unsatisfying."

"And you’re surprised?" She laughs. "Go on then, get back to work. Show ‘em what you can do. I expect you to be back on track with your own show by Christmas."

"That’d be nice." He grins. "See you later, Aims."

He hangs up and gets back to work, trying his hardest to put the conversation to the back of his mind. He manages to consume three Dairy Milk cake bars but at least he’s not thinking about Liam.

At least, he’s not thinking about Liam until he walks into the living room and Liam is lying on the painting sheets on the floor with his top off and Hayley’s sitting on his chest painting on him. "Oh. I – sorry. I – yeah." He turns and walks out of the room and it takes him a minute to remember that this is _his_ house and _his_ daughter and actually he doesn’t need to apologise.

It doesn’t make the image of Liam with his shirt off any less burned on his retinas, though. 

"Sorry, Nick." Liam comes out to find him, laughing. And he still hasn’t put a bloody shirt on. "Hayles was asking about my tattoos so I showed her, and then we got the face paints out so that she could tattoo me herself. She’s doing her name, and –uh, I’m not sure what this bit is. I think it’s Pig."

"It is Pig!!!!!!!!" Hayley shouts out from the living room and Liam grins.

"I see," Nick squeaks. "That’s – yeah, great. You get back to that, then. I’ll go start tea." 

"Oh," Liam looks down at his chest and pokes at the paint with his finger. "We already started, there’s pizza in the oven." He grins at Nick. "We made them. She designed one specially for you. They’ll be done in a minute actually, I should probably go wash this off."

"No!" Hayley comes out into the hall, her hands covered in paint. "I’m not finished, you can’t wash it."

Nick laughs a little. His head has stopped spinning and he can finally stop staring at Liam’s lovely smooth paint covered torso long enough to grin at Hayley and pick her up. "Well we at least need to wash your hands, messy lady. You can finish your artwork after tea." He smiles at Liam. "If Liam doesn’t mind joining us."

Liam grins at touches the paint again. "I’d love to. I think this is dry enough to put my shirt back on til we’ve eaten. Don’t want to put anyone off their pizza."

Nick laughs weakly. "Yeah, that would be _terrible_." He’s saved from further awkwardness by the beeping of the oven timer and he goes to get Hayley cleaned up while Liam gets the food out. Nick tries very hard not to pretend this is some kind of lovely sneak peek of a potential domestic future with Liam, because it’s just not going to happen.

"Look, Daddy." She points at the pizza Liam has just removed from the oven. "I did your face. Liam said your face looked delicious, didn’t you Liam?"

Liam laughs and gets out the pizza wheel. "I did. I can’t even bring myself to cut it to be honest."

"Fool." Nick laughs and reaches for the wheel. "It looks just like me, sunshine, you did a great job. Slightly wonky nose and everything." He cuts through the pizza, laughing as Liam and Hayley both cover their faces as he slices straight through his tomato eyes. "Now let’s eat, and then you can finish your masterpiece. Maybe you’re gonna be a tattoo artist when you grow up."

\--

Hiring Liam Payne turns out to be one of the best things Nick ever did. Hayley _loves_ him, and once Nick has accepted that his crush isn’t going away he’s able to act like a grown up and pretend it doesn’t exist at all. Most days Liam has food at least part way cooked when Nick gets in from work, and he usually ends up staying to eat with them. Nick is so grateful for everything that Liam does around the house that when he leaves to go back home for Christmas, Nick can’t remember how he survived before Liam came along. He takes a full two weeks off work and by the end of the second day, Hayley is falling asleep on Nick’s lap in front of the fire asking when Liam’s coming back. 

"Not soon enough, kiddo." Nick laughs. "Just you and me for a bit, like the old days. That’s not so bad, right?"

She wraps her arms around his neck and snuggles into him. "No. I miss him though. Can we call him?"

"Sure." Nick smiles a little, although he’s sure Liam will have better things to do than talk to them. He’ll have all his friends and family to see, and he’s sure calling his boss will be the last thing on his mind.

He’s wrong, as it turns out. He gets a text on Christmas morning asking if Hayley’s opened her Christmas present from him yet and when Nick replies that no, she’s still working through the excessive pile from "Santa" first, Liam asks if he can Skype them later while she opens it. They end up spending nearly an hour on the call, Hayley showing Liam every single gift she opened and Liam seeming genuinely interested in what Nick’s been up to since he left.

Liam comes back the week after Christmas to prepare for his exams and Nick goes back to work. Hayley has another week off school and because Liam Payne is a wonderful amazing specimen of a human, he agrees to look after her all day for the whole week. 

Nick gets back from work on Tuesday and the house is suspiciously quiet. "Hayley?" He calls out. "Liam?" The weather is cold and wet and gross, so there’s no way they’ve gone outside. They’re not in the kitchen or the living room, and Nick’s just starting on the stairs when he hears Hayley. 

"Shh, daddy." She pokes her head through the railings at the top and Nick grins, climbing up the next few steps. "Liam’s tired."

Nick gets close enough to the top that his face is level with hers and he kisses her through the bannister. "Oh?" He comes around and lifts her up. "Where is he?"

"My room." Hayley grins. Nick pushes the door open and Liam looks more than tired. He’s completely spark out on Hayley’s bed, his feet hanging off the end of it. Hayley has obviously tried to cover him in her blanket but it hasn’t really worked, and Liam’s big thick scary looking textbook is open on his chest. Nick laughs and perches on the edge of the bed beside him.

"Hey, sleepy." He squeezes Liam’s shoulder a little. "Liam?"

Liam sits bolt upright, launching his book onto the floor with a loud thud. "I – what? Nick! God, I’m- did I fall asleep?"

Hayley is giggling against Nick’s shoulder and he smiles. "Yeah, you did."

"I’m so sorry Nick, honestly, it can only have been for a minute, I-"

"Liam-"

"I was up late revising, I shouldn’t have – you’re paying me to look after her and I-"

"Liam!"

Liam blinks and stops rambling. "Yeah?"

"It’s okay. She’s fine, no harm done. I fall asleep when she’s around all the time."

"He does." Hayley grins. "He sleeps all the _time_. Especially on Christmas day, he ate so much turkey he fell asleep right after."

Liam laughs a little and rubs his eyes. "I should go." Nick can tell he still feels bad, like he’s let Nick down by sleeping on the job.

"You don’t – do you have to? I mean, I could just order takeaway for us all and maybe I could help you revise." Nick picks up the book. "I remember covering some of this on my radio course." 

Liam finally stops looking terrified that Nick might fire him and straightens up. "Yeah? That would be great, actually. My flatmate’s no good at helping, he’s on a completely different course and I just go round in circles and get distracted."

Nick grins. "That’s agreed then. Me and Hayles will go and take Pig out for a walk while you wake up a bit – we’ll not be long, my girls both hate the rain – and then we’ll get down to it."

By the time they get back Liam has tidied up and made cups of tea and a hot chocolate for Hayley. "Liam – stop it." Nick laughs as he takes his tea through into the living room. "You’re off the clock now. Just sit down and I’m sure you know this stuff."

Hayley climbs up onto Nick’s lap with the book and starts pointing at things. "What’s that mean?" She sounds out a word and looks up at Nick. Nick looks at Liam and grins. 

"Liam will tell you."

Liam obliges with a perfect explanation, just like Nick knew he would. Hayley is a brilliant study partner, firing questions at Liam, and when he struggles or she runs out of things to ask, Nick joins in with prompts. He orders an Indian while they go through Liam’s lecture notes and by the time it comes Nick know there’s no way Liam’s failing this exam. 

"Daddy can Liam read my story tonight?" Hayley cuddles into him. "He’s never still here at bedtime."

Nick looks at Liam and raises an eyebrow. Liam smiles. "I’d love to."

"And can he stay over? So he’s here in the morning?"

"Oh, Hayley, I don’t know-" Liam starts.

Nick cuts him off. "He sure can." Liam looks uncertain and Nick smiles. "You need a good sleep. If you stay here you won’t have to get up so early tomorrow and you might not fall asleep babysitting my daughter."

Liam’s smile falters a little. "I thought you said-"

"I’m kidding, Liam." He passes Hayley over to him. "One story, sunshine. No tricking Liam into reading you three or four." He taps his lips. "Kiss goodnight."

She grins and kisses him goodnight. "Night daddy." She looks at Liam. "You kiss daddy goodnight too?"

Liam coughs in surprise and starts to laugh. "I’m not going to bed, love. I’ll kiss him goodnight later." 

"Really?"

Nick tries not to laugh. "Yeah, really?"

Liam laughs. "Really." He stands up with Hayley. "Off to bed we go, then."

"Try not to fall asleep this time! It’s her bed, not yours!" Nick calls after him. 

\--

Of course Liam passes his exams with flying colours, and Nick gets back from work the following day to find a bottle of pretty damn expensive wine on the dining table. "Liam?" He picks up the card. _Thank you for all your help, couldn’t have done it without you. L x_ He mutters, "You didn’t have to."

"I wanted to." Nick spins around and Liam is standing behind him in the doorway. 

"I must be paying you too much then." Nick laughs, and Liam beams at him. His eyes crinkle at the corners and god, Nick just wants to kiss him. It’s been five months, he thought this would have gone away by now, not got worse. "Where’s my girl?"

"Daddyyyyyy!" She comes running in, right on cue. She’s dressed like a pirate and wearing a cape. "Here I am!"

He scoops her up and lifts her as high as he can, which is nowhere near as high as it used to be. "You’re going to be too big for this soon," he laughs. "Listen baby girl, daddy’s got some good news! The lovely bosses at work have decided I can have my very own show on the radio!"

She gasps. "Yaaaay!" She claps. "Can I listen?"

Nick smiles. "You don’t get to hear enough of me at home?" She shakes her head and he kisses her. "Well it’s going to be on when you’re at school but I’m sure we can get you some tapes." He looks at Liam, who’s still beaming at him. "Are you free on Friday night? Aimee wants to take me out to celebrate and I need someone to watch Hayley. I’ll pay you double?"

"Oh." Liam falters a little. "Sorry – I – I’ve already got plans on Friday."

"Of course, of course you do." Nick feels silly for assuming. Of course Liam has plans on a Friday night. He’s a hot young student. He doesn’t belong to Nick and Hayley. "It’s fine, I’ll call my mum or something."

"She’s – Hayley has a birthday party on Friday after school. She’s going to Jessica’s for tea, remember?" Liam shrugs. "Maybe your mum can pick her up from there."

So now Liam even knows Hayley’s schedule better than Nick does. Nick should have remembered that, Hayley’s been talking about it for days. "Right, of course." Nick nods. "Cup of tea?"

Liam’s already slinging his bag over his shoulder. "I can’t – sorry. I’ve got to go to the library before it closes and get some stuff for my lecture tomorrow." He kisses Hayley on the cheek. "I’ll see you tomorrow, Pirate Queen. See you tomorrow, Nick." He smiles and points at the bottle of wine. "Enjoy that. I meant it, I couldn’t have done so well without you."

\--

Aimee somehow scores them tickets to a show at the student union for Friday night that he knows has been sold out for weeks. He hasn’t been there since he was a student himself but he’s heard nothing but good things about this band and it’ll look good at the station that he’s getting out and seeing music again.

She disappears to get them drinks as soon as they get inside and Nick finds a spot near the edge of the dancefloor where they’ll have a good view of the band without it being too crowded. He spent enough time in this place when he was a student that he still knows the best places to stand.

He’s watching the stage get set up when someone nudges him out of the way. "Oh, sorry," he mumbles and steps to the side without looking, making room for whoever it is to come through.

"Hi, Nick." 

Liam is smiling at him, holding two glasses of wine. _Liam._ "Liam?"

"Oh good, you still recognise me when I’m not covered in glue or dressed like a superhero," Liam laughs, handing Nick a glass. "Here."

Nick takes the glass from him and then shakes his head in disbelief. Not so much that Liam’s there – it should hardly be a surprise that Liam’s at his own student union on a Friday night – but surely this drink was meant for someone else. "Um."

"Aimee said she’ll call you tomorrow?" Liam’s voice goes up a little at the end and his face looks soft and hopeful. Nick is full on confused.

"I – where is she? Is there something wrong?" He cranes his neck to look over the building crowd and spots Aimee hanging by the door. She grins and waves dramatically at him before disappearing out into the night and Nick groans. "I’m going to kill her."

"She said you’d say that," Liam laughs. "Have a drink and calm down."

Nick looks back at Liam and he smiles, relaxing a little. It’s hard to be tense around Liam or mad at Aimee because Liam looks damn good. Nick’s never seen him dressed up like this, obviously, babysitting and skinny jeans don’t really mix. "Thanks." Nick takes the glass and downs it in a couple of gulps. "I need another one." 

Nick turns towards the bar and Liam reaches out, catching his arm and handing Nick the other glass he’d been holding. "She said you’d say that, too."

Nick frowns. "I can’t take your drink."

Liam laughs and looks around, grabbing another lad’s arm and tugging on it. The other boy laughs and hugs Liam, handing him a beer and then jumping off into the crowd. "That’s my roommate," Liam grins. "Those two wines were always yours."

Nick bites his lip a little and laughs. He hopes it’s just hot in there and he’s not actually blushing. "God, do I have a reputation for being an alcoholic? The bottle the other day, and now this? Actually don’t answer that."

"So do you mind?" Liam laughs a little, ignoring the question. "Watching the show with me instead of Aimee."

"Not if you don’t mind hanging out with an old man. I thought you had plans. Don’t you want to go up front with your mate?"

"Nah." Liam grins. "I was already in on Aimee’s plan, to be honest. She called me before you got home the other day."

"Sneaky."

"And you’re not old." Liam smiles and bumps Nick’s hip with his own. "I’ve heard these guys are pretty good."

Nick tries not to just knock back the rest of his second glass of wine too. He definitely can’t be drunk after one glass but he feels like he’s _swimming_ in Liam’s _eyes_ and that’s utterly ridiculous. "What’s going on here?" He blurts out. "I mean. Why-"

Before Nick can register what’s happening – maybe he _is_ drunk – Liam’s got his free hand around the back of Nick’s neck and he’s kissing him. Like actual kissing. Nick’s so surprised he nearly forgets to kiss back, or object, or do anything at all, he just stands there and lets Liam kiss him.

"Liam." He starts, his lips still pressed against Liam’s. "I can’t, Hayley-"

"Isn’t here. And wouldn’t mind, I don’t think." He smirks a little. "I know you like me. Aimee said."

"Aimee who? I have no friends called Aimee."

Liam just laughs and turns back to the stage but he stays right beside Nick and if Nick had to pick two words to describe Liam’s face right now it would be _smug_ and _happy_. 

The band are good. He thinks. Nick’s not entirely sure he paid much attention to the music because it turns out it’s pretty difficult to concentrate when the guy you’ve been dreaming about for the last few months is dancing beside you with his hand in your back pocket. But he knows Liam liked them, so that’s good enough for Nick. He’ll make sure they get good play at the station.

Slowly over the course of the show, Nick’s heart rate returns to something resembling normal and he stops feeling like he wants to kill Aimee and throw up, not necessarily in that order. By the time the band have left and the DJ cranks up the music, he’s feeling twenty one again himself and slips his fingers through Liam’s. "Come and dance with me." Nick grins a little as he tugs Liam out onto the dancefloor. Everything is pulsating and loud and Nick presses close to Liam to let someone squeeze behind him and when he looks back at Liam’s face, well. Anyone would kiss Liam in that scenario. Nick can’t be blamed for his choices.

It seems like they’re out on the dancefloor for no time at all but before he knows it the DJ is announcing the last song and the lights are flicked on, bright and jarring and people are already trying to sweep away the discarded glasses and bottles from the sticky floor around them. It’s three in the morning and he’s been kissing Liam Payne for approximately four hours. It must be some sort of weird dream, or a hallucination.

"It’s not," Liam laughs, and of _course_ Nick said that out loud. "Come on. Back to mine."

Nick doesn’t protest, because assuming this actually is a dream he might as well at least get laid out of it. And if it’s not, well. He’ll deal with that tomorrow. 

\--

He wakes up in Liam’s bed a few hours later, surprisingly alert. He didn’t drink that much in the end – it would have meant stopping kissing Liam for too long to go to the bar – so his head is fine, but his mouth is drier than the Sahara. He rolls out of bed and pulls on his shirt, realising Liam doesn’t have his own bathroom and he’s going to have to venture out into the corridor to get some water. It’s a good job he remembers being a student and he doesn’t think there’s any risk of running into any of Liam’s flatmates out there this early.

When he comes back, Liam’s sitting up in bed. "Hi." He looks a lot less confident than Nick remembers from last night. 

"Hi." He looks at his watch and rubs his eyes. "I’ve got to – I need to go pick Hayley up from mum’s."

"Yeah." Liam nods a bit. "Of course. I’m probably going to go to the gym anyway, so."

"Right." Nick finds his jeans and sits on the edge of the bed while he does up his shoes. He’s got his back to Liam and it’s just so bloody awkward. Great. Now Liam will probably quit, and Hayley will cry, and it’ll all be a big mess. "I’ll – bye then."

"Mhm." 

Nick risks a glance at Liam, but he’s over at the wardrobe now, pulling out his gym gear. He slips out the door without saying anything else and of course he _does_ run into Liam’s flatmate, the kid from last night. He looks like he’s just getting home, he blinks at Nick at first like he’s clearly thinking _who the hell is this stranger in my flat_ but then something clicks and a dirty great grin spreads across his face. "Good for Liam."

Nick just sort of nods awkwardly and escapes out the door before he has to exchange any more small talk with this kid. He decides to head home first, take a shower before he collects Hayley and his mum bombards him with questions about if he’s had a nice night like she always does. 

He’s not expecting to find Aimee sitting at the kitchen table drinking a mug of tea and pretending to read the paper. "Well well. It’s the dirty stopout."

Nick rolls his eyes and feels the side of the kettle – still warm. He flicks it on to boil again and runs himself another glass of water in the meantime. Aimee doesn’t say anything else, just flicks the pages and drinks her tea, and Nick doesn’t speak until he’s finished his water.

"What the fuck was that last night?"

"Mind your language Nicholas, your daughter’s upstairs."

"That – what? Why’s she here?"

"I picked her up from your mum’s last night after I left the club. We had a great time watching DVDs and gossiping about boys." Nick glares at her and Aimee laughs. "I’m kidding, obviously she went straight to bed. I just wanted an excuse to be here when you got back so I could see you make that face at me that you’re making right now. The one where you look like you want to kill me." 

"I’m definitely considering it."

"So? Tell me all about it! Was he as dreamy as you’d imagined? Everything you thought he’d be and more?"

Nick sighs and sits down across the table with his tea. "It was great. He was great. But now it’s like. What do we do now? This morning was painful, Aims. Neither of us knew what to say. What if he doesn’t want to be here any more? Hayley will be devastated if he leaves, and then it’ll all be my-"

Aimee laughs a little and touches his wrist. "You’re an idiot if you think Liam will stop wanting to see Hayley."

"It’s not about that though. I don’t want him to be someone who pops in to say hi every now and then. That’s exactly what I was trying to avoid. It’s always been me and her, and Liam was just supposed to be the babysitter. She’s already been abandoned by one dad."

"Really." Aimee nods a little. "She barely remembers him from when he lived here. Now he’s just a guy who brings her stuff every six months. She doesn’t feel abandoned – I think it’s you that’s scared. You _love_ Liam and you’re scared of losing him but that’s bullshit. You can’t stop doing things you want because you’re scared of what will happen when they’re over."

Nick says "Shut up and drink your tea," because he doesn’t want to have to say she’s probably right. He’s about to escape for a shower when Hayley comes into the room, rubbing her eyes and yawning. 

"Daddy?" She climbs onto his lap. "You were wearing that yesterday."

Aimee tries not to laugh and Nick grins and kisses the top of her head. "Very observant of you, Hayles."

She wriggles around so she can look up at him. "And you look tired."

Nick snorts. "Okay okay, I’m taking the hint!" He dumps her onto Aimee’s lap. "You stay there with auntie Aimee while I go and have a shower, and then we can go curl up in my bed with some DVDs and do nothing today, yeah?"

"Aimee too?"

Aimee starts to answer but Nick interrupts before she can say yes, because she’s the kind of person that would say yes. "No, Aimee’s going home."

"Has she been naughty?"

Nick laughs loudly. "Yes, very naughty. Naughty Aimee." He heads off up the stairs and leaves Aimee to claim her innocence.

\--

As promised, Nick and Hayley spend the day curled up in bed. Midway through the afternoon his phone vibrates on the bedside table and he glances at it. Unsurprisingly, it’s from Liam.

_Still need me on Mon?_

Nick sighs and replies quickly. _Yep, why wouldn’t I?_

He regrets his choice of words almost immediately and sends another.

_Sorry, I know why, I’m not that dense. But yes. We both still want you._ He successfully fights the temptation to sign it with a kiss but doesn’t manage to stop himself from keeping his phone tightly in his fist so that he knows right away when Liam replies. Luckily it doesn’t take long.

_OK cool c u then._

\--

Work on Monday is terrible. Nick can’t concentrate, his feature ideas are atrocious and at one point he calls the station manager ‘mum’. He hasn’t done that to anyone since school. But then he probably hasn’t been this moon-eyed over a boy since around then either.

When he finally makes it home, he finds Liam in the kitchen making something to eat for tea. "Hi."

Liam turns away from the oven and smiles a little tentatively. "Hi. Hayley’s watching a DVD, I thought you might want to – like – talk."

Nick nods a bit, dropping his keys in the bowl and shrugging off his jacket. "So-"

"I wanted-" Liam laughs a little and waves his hand for Nick to go first. "Sorry."

"I had a good time on Friday?" Nick has no idea why it’s a question. He did have a good time on Friday, he definitely did. He also has no idea what he wants to say next. He knows he wants Liam to stay, but he doesn’t know – he just can’t find the words. And Nick is _never_ stuck for words.

"Me too." Liam beams, and oh yeah. There’s the crinkly eyes that Nick loves. "I would really like to maybe go on a couple more dates with you, if you want to too. I mean. Ones that you know are happening before you’re on them would be ace."

Nick laughs a little. "Yeah. I’m up for that."

"And we don’t have to – like – Hayley doesn’t need to know if you’re worried about that. We can see how it goes before you tell her."

Nick nods and crosses over towards Liam. "For now I’d just quite like to-" he stops mid-sentence and just dips down a little to press his lips to Liam’s. Liam smiles against his mouth and kisses him back which Nick thinks is a very good sign. And Liam’s good at kissing, which is another very good sign.

"Did I hear Daddy? Oh!" Nick pulls back a little from Liam and spins around, catching her as she runs towards him. He lifts her up and she looks between the two of them, not exactly confused but definitely trying to gather her words. Nick interrupts before she can say anything at all.

"So remember how you said you wanted to keep Liam forever? How he’s ours now?" Nick smiles at her and she nods. "How would you feel if Liam stayed here sometimes overnight, with Daddy? And if maybe sometimes Liam and Daddy kissed? Would that be okay?" 

She looks thoughtful. "I wouldn’t mind. Liam can play with me all the time then."

Liam laughs and tugs on her ponytail. "I’ll always play with you anyway, love. Whenever you want."

"Dangerous promise." Nick laughs. "You might want to put some restrictions on that if you’re going to be here more often. She loves a 3am tea party."

"I can handle it." Liam grins. 

Hayley beams at Liam. "You make Daddy happy. He laughs lots more when you’re here."

"Hey now. I laugh plenty, don’t make me sound miserable," Nick laughs. "But that’s okay with you then? We’re definitely keeping Liam?"

"Yep." She grins at him and kisses Nick first, then Liam. "He’s ours now."


End file.
